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The Brothers McMullen

Bomb Rating:

In a recent Irish screenwriting contest, over 95% of the entries involved Irish guys pontificating on their lives while drinking beer.

Director Edward Burns is under the mistaken assumption that Northeastern Irish Catholics are interesting. His movie, thus, revolves around three Irish Catholic brothers: Barry (Edward Burns), who won't commit to a relationship, Jack (Jack Mulcahy), who starts an affair after five good years of marriage because his wife wants kids, and Patrick (Mike McGlone), just out of college and confused about both his Catholicism his future with his girlfriend.

Not surprisingly, everyone's trouble stems from their parents. Their mother spent her whole life with their dad, only to realize after his death that she wasted her life with a wife-beating, child-abusing alcoholic. Mom tells Barry at the funeral "not to make the same mistake I did." For Burns, this translates into two hours of Irish guys pontificating on their lives while drinking beer.

The fact that every Irish guy in the universe has had this story idea kicking around in his head since the beginning of Irish time doesn't slow Burns down a bit. In fact, in a recent Irish screenwriting contest, over 95% of the entries involved Irish guys pontificating on their lives while drinking beer. Burns, not surprisingly, fails to ascend into the top five percent.

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